There’s a saying in life that I’ve heard repeatedly: less is more. This a saying that I’ve seen used in sports a lot, both concerning individuals on a skid of some sort, and also teams. It’s common to see an individual or a team perhaps try to overcompensate or do too much to try to get back on track. Out of anxiety and/or an increasing crisis of confidence. Which often leads to the skid or drought continuing. The skids or droughts seem to end after a reset, a break, or perhaps a trip away from home.
While Detroit City FC’s winless run going to Friday night was at eight matches (five draws, three loses), this run of fourth form to me goes back to ten matches ago in the second half of Detroit City FC’s matchup with Birmingham Legion on June 26th at Keyworth Stadium. A match that saw Detroit City FC go into the half with a 1-0 lead, but get overran in the second half with a combination of the team dealing with illness at the time and an adjusted approach by the Legion. That approach saw something painful take place for the Detroit City FC squad, coaches, and supporters: conceded goals in the 83rd and 88th minutes and Legion’s first-ever win over Le Rouge. While Detroit City FC rebounded with a 4-0 away win in the next match against Eastern Conference cellar dwellers Miami FC, the eight-match winless streak started with the following game.
The Detroit City FC team that played in Birmingham on Friday continued with a similar approach to their last match, which ended in a 1-1 draw against a strong Las Vegas Lights team. Despite losing the lead, the Lights remained unbeaten in eleven games with that draw. To me, it felt like Detroit City gained a point rather than losing two. This approach seemed simpler compared to what we have seen from Danny Dichio’s team this season.
The simple approach starts off as a base 4-4-2 shape with a focus on wing play and getting service into the box. The up top strikers that started being more pace driven in Ben Morris and Danny Espeleta. The wingers being workmanlike with Rhys Williams on the left and Connor Rutz on the right (sometime Espeleta and Rutz would interchange depending on the situation). Rather than try to control the game with possession, the squad used defense first to win the ball, then break out and go from goal to goal as quick as possible.
In the 32nd minute of the match, the eventual game-winning goal unfolds. A brilliant City play leads to Rhys Williams delivering a precise low cross from the left side into the box. Ben Morris swiftly advances towards Birmingham’s goalkeeper, setting the stage for Brett Levis to pounce on a rebound. As Danny Dichio emphasized in his post-match analysis on the club’s match recap, he had urged Levis to be “more of a leader in the group.” In a defining moment, Levis rose to the occasion and buried the rebound, securing the victory.
While Detroit City FC had to dig deep at times in the second half, there were also moments where additional goals could have been converted. In the end, we can refer to Birmingham as part of “Sweet Road Alabama. The Skid is Over for Le Rouge.” An ode to a well-known song from a well-known Southern rock band in the 1970s.
Next up for Detroit City FC is a trip to St. Petersburg, Florida where the Tampa Bay Rowdies await for a match on Wednesday, August 21st. The Rowdies, while third in the Eastern Conference will be coming in likely pissed after falling 2-0 this weekend once again to the Loudoun United.
Expect a matchup on Wednesday that could be as fiery or even more than the first match of the season between the two sides on July 6th. Whatever the result turns out to be on Wednesday, the mindset remains the same. We go onward.
